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Sale of a Law Practice, Interview With Ed Poll & Lawyers at Midlife
Searching for fodder for blog posts, I came across this advertisement posted by a soon to be 70 year old retiring lawyer who is seeking buyers for his law practice located in Syracuse, in Hamilton County, Kansas. According to the ad there are only two other lawyers in the County,...
Big Ways for Small Firms to Grow Now
A few weeks back, I posted about several innovative business models that might work for small law firms. Along those lines, yesterday's online issue of Time Magazine offers eight quick and decidedly twenty-first century tricks to grow a business in a down economy. I've focused on two below. Outsource: Outsourcing...
To Win the Hearts and Minds of Consumers, Lawyers Need to Sell, Not Sue
To date, we lawyers haven't been able to effectively sell the public on the idea that document preparation services like Legal Zoom are a poor substitute for the services of a lawyer. So, being lawyers, we've done the next best thing to selling: suing. Last month, a Missouri law firm filed...
1. Lisa Solomon takes on Westlaw - It shouldn't take a detective to figure out the answer to one single question: How much will WestlawNext cost? Yet, apparently, it does and so my friend, Lisa Solomon of Legal Research and Writing pro has been investigating. Lisa hasn't yet figured out...
Guest Post: State Bar Regulations on Lawyer Advertising
The following is a guest post by Kelly Spradley, VP of Marketing and Sales at Impirus Legal Websites. Florida is not looking too sunny for lawyers today. The Florida Bar recently announced that Florida attorneys must put website testimonials, laudatory statements, and past results behind a disclaimer page. Many Florida lawyers currently have...
In case you didn't know, California mega law firm, Morrison Foerster is MoFo, and this is its website. Understandably, the site might confuse you since mofo has other, more widely recognized colloquial meanings - though Morrison Foerster ranks first in search for "mofo." Reportedly (by Above the Law, where else?), the...
Alabama Product Injury Lawyer Blog
Yes, holiday times are here. Everyone rushing around buying gifts, going to parties, hanging out with friends and family. Its a time you want to sit back and sort of breath a little. Alas, my work schedule does not allow......
Wall Street Journal Reports FDA Issues Warning that Prilosec and Nexium Can Interfere with Plavix
The Wall Street Journal reports that the FDA warned doctors earlier this week that they should tell their patients taking the anti-clotting drug Plavix not to take popular heartburn drugs like Prilosec and Nexium because they may lessen the effects......
Time boys and girls for the update on Recalls of the Week. These are some of the most significant recalls which have occurred over the past week. You are welcome to contact me by calling or using the "contact" form......
Well, time to toot my own horn. The most recent November 2009 edition of the American Bar Association's Magazine, the ABA Journal, included a feature article entitled "So You Want To Go Solo? You Sure?" which included an interview (and......
Back to give you an update on some of the most important recent recalls. Been crazy busy and thus my time for blogging has suffered. Still looking to dedicate 2-3 days a week to post. Ahh, the life of a......
We have some pretty big recalls this week. So here we go. 1. Baby Jogger City Mini Strollers: I remember when my younger son was an infant, strollers that you could jog with were becoming the big craze, what with......
Dozier Internet Law, PC: Internet Lawyer
Dozier Internet Law at Search Engine Strategies Conference
Join Dozier Internet Law at the SES conference in New York next week. John W Dozier Jr will be signing the "Google Bomb" book, recently recognized as one of the most important Internet law and policy books of the decade. If you missed Mr. Dozier's presentation on the ten biggest...
Google Runs Into Trouble Oversees
It's been interesting watching the politics of the online world lately at Dozier Internet Law. Google has been struggling with the Chinese government's information policies and threatening to pull out of China altogether. Google's claim, in summary, is that China does not adequately embrace the concepts of free speech. Yes,...
Negative Option and Continuation Billing Programs
The online marketing industry has been hit hard recently. First, the FTC passes new requirements for disclosing economic interests. Then Google shuts down the Adwords accounts of a lot of marketers for the negative option and continuation programs, and MasterCard and Visa stop processing negative option and continuation program transactions....
The Advertising Network Dilemma
No one really understands the duties, responsibilities, liabilities and exposures of ad networks. With any new (relatively) business model or process comes uncertainty. The primary uncertainty in terms of success, long term viability, profitablity, and sustainability inherent in the advertising network business model and operational structure rests with relationships. Advertisers...
Dozier Internet Law at Upcoming Conferences
Dozier Internet Law and John W Dozier Jr will be attending and participating in the following upcoming conferences: Affiliate Summit in Vegas in January The Social Network Conference in Miami in January LeadsCon in Vegas in February We'll be doing book signings at each, so stop by and say hello....
Dozier Internet Law: The Far Left Virtual Police State
We've been quite vocal at Dozier Internet Law about the nasty habit of the far left leaning and liberal blogosphere attacking through words (and otherwise) individuals who dare disagree with their "information yearns to be free" and "hands off the web" mantra. These interests claim that our free speech guaranteed...
Overlawyered
The retreat of Grand Theft Auto: Class Action
The case that started me on the path to founding the Center for Class Action Fairness is now over: plaintiffs voluntarily dismissed their appeal last week after voluntarily dismissing the court case February 22, giving up any shot at the $1 million in attorneys’ fees they had negotiated for themselves. And...
Simulating a Toyota “smoking gun”
Rep. Edolphus Towns (D-N.Y.), who chairs the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, posted documents purporting to show that Toyota held onto safety documents it was supposed to turn over to opponents in litigation. Turns out the documents had been shoddily snipped, edited and mischaracterized to advance the charges against...
One crazy incident = everyone’s liberty restricted
And then repeat x10,000 [Jeremy Clarkson, Times Online (U.K.) via Free-Range Kids] Tags: nanny state, safety Related posts Unintended results of bicycle helmet laws (4) U.K.: “Health and safety snoops to enter family homes” (0) January 20 roundup (8) “The greatest risk is living swaddled in bubble wrap” (2) What it means for a product to be...
SLAPP bill: advancing free speech at federalism’s expense?
Ken at Popehat: “Let’s get this straight from the start: I’m in favor of anti-SLAPP statutes and vigorous legal protections for free speech. I’m just not convinced that federalizing libel law is the right way to go about it.” Earlier on the Cohen bill here. Tags: federalism, libel slander and defamation Related...
On 770 KTTH-Seattle at 4:10 PM Pacific today, talking Toyota
My Toyota op-ed is going viral, with dozens of retweets, and listings on the front pages of Hot Air and reddit—not to mention an Instalink. And Alex Tabarrok tests my numbers at Marginal Revolution. Update: Don’t miss Megan McArdle’s comprehensive take. Tags: on TV and radio, Seattle, sudden acceleration, Ted Frank,...
New York bill would ban restaurant use of salt in cooking
Assembly members Felix Ortiz (D-Brooklyn), Margaret Markey (D-Queens) and Nick Perry (D-Brooklyn) have filed a bill that would hit restaurants with $1,000 fines if their chefs use salt as an ingredient in their recipes. Some reactions: Russell Jackson, Metafilter via Althouse, Verdon/Outside the Beltway (”Is salt necessary for some cooking?...
TalkLeft
Don't forget to turn your clocks ahead an hour before you go to bed. This is an open thread, all topics welcome. ...
Obama Finally Nominates a Liberal Appeals Court Judge
President Obama has nominated Goodman Liu, age 39, to the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals. Finally, he's nominated a liberal. Goodwin Liu, 39, is an unabashed liberal legal scholar who, if confirmed, could become a force on the federal appeals court for decades. There's talk that in...
Ireland Releases Colo. Woman Held in Terror Probe
That was quick. While a slew of news articles are still writing about a Colorado woman, Jamie Paulin-Ramirez, held in Ireland over the plot to kill a Swedish cartoonist who mocked the prophet Mohammed, it turns out she's already been released. I guess there's still Jihad Jane for...
Rahmbo Unplugged or Compromiser In Chief?
Sunday's New York Times Magazine has an 8 page profile of Rahm Emanuel. If Emanuel’s philosophy is to put points on the board, to take what you can get and then cut a deal, to make everything negotiable except success, then the White House is testing the...
It's a beautiful day here, too nice to spend indoors. Here's an open thread, all topics welcome. ...
Monica Conyers' Sentencing Hearing
Monica Conyers, wife of Rep. John Conyers, was sentenced to 37 months in federal prison this week for her part in a corruption case in Detroit. Her sentencing hearing did not go smoothly, and she unsuccessfully attempted to withdraw her gulity plea (begins on page 3.) Here's the transcript...
HealthBlawg :: David Harlow's Health Care Law Blog
Ten years after the release of the IOM report To Err is Human, which documented the toll taken by medical errors in this country, the question remains: What can be done to reverse the trend of ever-increasing morbidity and mortality......
What does a large health system CIO worry about if his system is already fully up to speed in the day-to-day use of EHRs? Using them in ways that improve communication of information across a diverse group of clinicians, and......
The HIMSS annual convention going on this week in Atlanta is a 30,000-person blowout of epic proportions (and, yes, there was snow there but not in Boston), with many industry announcements, product launches, and meetings and sessions large and small.......
David Harlow quoted in Part B Insider piece on RACs
The OIG recently reviewed RAC performance to date in identifying fraud (vs. overpayment) and found the RACs wanting. To be fair, the RACs haven't been trained in identifying Medicare fraud. Part B Insider asked me how providers should prepare for......
Diagnostic Radiology Controls: David Harlow Interviews MITA Executive Director Dave Fischer
MITA Executive Director Dave Fischer spoke with HealthBlawg last week about industry efforts to control radiation dose in diagnostic radiology modalities such as CT. A congressional hearing on radiation dose control took place the day after we spoke, and the......
MPFS in Crisis: Holding of Claims for Services Paid Under the 2010 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule
Days of Future Passed (or: deja vu all over again). Late Friday, after business hours, CMS pushed the following announcement via its physician information listserv: The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) is working with Congress, health care providers,......
Digital Media Law
SAG Approves Joint Bargaining with AFTRA
The Screen Actors Guild national board this morning approved an agreement to hold joint negotiations with AFTRA with the studio alliance (AMPTP) later this year, for 45 days starting on October 1. That was the date for SAG and the AMPTP to begin early negotiations. Now it will be SAG...
AFTRA Board Approves Joint Bargaining With SAG
At a videoconference meeting today in New York and LA, AFTRA’s national board unanimously voted to approve joint bargaining with SAG for the Primetime Television Contract and the SAG TV/theatrical contract. The move comes a month after SAG’s national board voted, by a tally of 82% to 18%, to “seek...
Pilots Overwhelmingly AFTRA Again
About 60 pilots for scripted network primetime programs will be shot under AFTRA contracts this year, while few – or perhaps none – will be produced under SAG jurisdiction, according to sources close to the two unions, who spoke on condition of anonymity. This continues a trend that began last...
SAG Moves towards Joint Bargaining with AFTRA
The SAG National Board yesterday passed a resolution, by a surprising 82% to 18% vote, directing the guild’s president and National Executive Director to “seek engagement with AFTRA in a joint bargaining agreement for negotiation of the Television/Theatrical Contract,” as quoted in a SAG press release. This move is as...
SAG-AFTRA Joint Bargaining: AFTRA Hesitates, Slightly; and More
An AFTRA committee, expected to recommend joint bargaining with SAG, instead referred the matter to a subcommittee, the Hollywood Reporter and The Wrap reported. Curious about details, I contacted a source close to AFTRA. (SAG and AFTRA declined to comment.) The committee that met yesterday is, in fact, AFTRA’s...
Mitigation ‘Round About Midnight?
That sweet walkaway payday for Conan O’Brien might not be as rich as it sounds. Media such as Variety are reporting that NBC is likely to pay Conan $30 to $40 million to settle out his contract, with a deal to be reached shortly. But what few of the media...
Electronic Discovery Blog
Secure Energy, Inc. v. Coal Synthetics, 2010 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 13532 (E.D. Mo. Feb. 17, 2010) Requestor initially served their discovery requests on producer on December 31, 2008. Requestor asked for “[a]ll documents relating to engineering plans and drawings developed as a result of the equipment bidding process for the...
ZL Technologies’ Unified Archive allows end-to-end e-discovery
I have pointed out before on this blog that vastly increasing data volumes pose challenges for litigation preparedness and electronic discovery. Kon Leong, CEO of ZL Technologies, a firm with extensive experience working with Fortune 500 companies, notes that the data volume within the average Fortune 500 company exceeds...
Rodriguez-Torres v. Governmental Development Bank of Puerto Rico, 2010 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 3958 (D.P.R. Jan. 20, 2010) In an employment discrimination case, plaintiff requestors sought emails and calendar entries in native format as follows: For each year 2007, 2008, 2009, produce in native electronic format with its original metadata all e-mail communications...
Mintel International Group, Ltd. v. Neergheen, 2010 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 2323 (N.D. Ill. Jan. 12, 2010) Defendant producer had worked in plaintiff’s marketing department, and had had access to plaintiff requestor’s confidential information. Defendant had signed an employment agreement containing a confidentiality clause, and a covenant not to compete. ...
Judge Scheindlin analyzes the law of spoliation
The Pension Committee of the University of Montreal Pension Plan v. Banc of America Securities, LLC, 2010 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 1839 (S.D.N.Y. Jan. 11, 2010) Plaintiff producers were a group of investors who had brought an action to recover $550 million lost as a result of the liquidation of two British...
Requestor successfully rebuts claim that data from archiving system is not reasonably accessible
Starbucks Corp. v. ADT Security Services, Inc., 2009 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 120941 (W.D. Wash. Apr. 30, 2009) The controversy involved ESI stored on a Plasmon archiving system which producer argued was so cumbersome that the data contained within it was not reasonably accessible because of undue burden or cost under Rule...
Asbestos HUB
Football Star Dies After Battle With Asbestos-Related Mesothelioma
Merlin Olsen, age 69, passed away this week after a long battle with the deadly asbestos-related disease, mesothelioma. Olsen was a Hall of Fame player for the Rams in the mid-1960’s. He was renowned as a defensive lineman and was a member of the famed “Fearsome Foursome”. The New York Times...
Vaccine For Asbestos-Related Mesothelioma Found To Be Safe
A new vaccine to prevent mesothelioma, a cancer linked to asbestos exposure, is being researched in the Netherlands. This is very exciting news. Even better, it appears to be safe and effective. According to a public release, “Possible vaccine for mesothelioma proven safe,” we get the following report: Building upon their previous...
New Clinical Trial Recruiting Mesothelioma Patients For A New Treatment Strategy
Sponsored by Eli Lilly and the University Health Network in Toronto, Canada, a new clinical trial is designed to test the effectiveness of Permetrexed, a drug used to treat mesothelioma, combined with Cisplatin and followed by surgery and radiation therapy. Participants in the trial will receive IV infusions of Alimta and Cisplatin...
Charest And Asbestos: First Hypocrisy, Now Outright Lies?
In a February 10, 2010 letter to Jean Charest, Premier of Quebec, 14 prominent Canadian physicians expressed outrage at Charest’s apparent false statements regarding the World Health Organization’s position on asbestos. According to a quote in La Presse, Charest said, “Chrysotile (asbestos) can be used in a safe manner; this is...
Charest Side-Steps Asbestos Export Responsibility As He Applauds His Own Environmental Awareness
Last week, during his economic mission to India, Jean Charest, Premier of Quebec, spoke before the Delhi Sustainable Development Summit. During his speech he emphasized the global impact of Quebec on climate change. He said: During the past few years, we, as regional governments, have stopped defining our future according to...
Scientists Urge Premier Of Quebec To Stop The Hypocrisy And Ban Asbestos Exports
The Premier of Quebec, Jean Charest, has been placed under the scrutiny of scientists from 28 countries. These scientists are pleading with Charest to ban the export of all forms of asbestos. This call to action came forth just as Charest was preparing a trade mission to India, Quebec’s biggest...
The High-touch Legal Services® Blog • For Startup/Early-stage Companies
If You Don’t Set the Terms of a Copyright License, a Court Will
Almost a year ago, I wrote about why independent contractors (as contrasted to employees) own the copyrights in works that they create, so a prudent customer will ensure that the contractor assigns its copyrights to the customer (Why “Work Made for Hire” is a Term Made for Confusion). This post...
Can I compete with my own LLC?
I recently had a Q-and-A dialogue on Avvo with an LLC member-manager who had a falling out with the other (50%) member and wanted to know whether he could form a separate business that would compete with the existing LLC. An edited version of our exchange appears below. Q. I have...
SVASE East Bay Series Evening of March 10 – “Demystifying VCs: How to Make the Right Impression”
The evening of Wednesday, March 10, the Silicon Valley Association of Startup Entrepreneurs will present “Demystifying VCs: How to Make the Right Impression” at the beautiful Crow Canyon Country Club. Tasty buffet dinner included! This blog does not provide legal advice and does not create an attorney-client relationship. If you need...
SaaS Use of Open-source Software is not Distribution (Who GNU?)
I recently answered a LinkedIn question about whether providing Software as a Service (SaaS) is considered a “distribution” under the open-source GNU General Public License. The question and answer are reproduced, in slightly edited form, below. Q. Is hosting a software as a SaaS offering considered as ‘distribution’ under GPL /...
Forming a Corporation in California? Get Ready to Wait
California’s budget crisis is affecting how quickly entrepreneurs can form their business entities: Standard turnaround time for hand-delivered Articles of Incorporation now is close to four weeks. (The situation for limited liability companies [LLCs] is better at two weeks, though still much longer than it was just half a year...
Online Terms can be Binding, even if You don’t have to Click!
This past December, a Missouri Court of Appeals held that a user was bound by a website’s terms and conditions, even though she was not obligated to click to signify assent to those terms (Major v. ServiceMagic, Inc.). The court noted that where a user is obligated to click...
China Law Blog
China Manufacturing: The Real Story.
Helen Wang over at the Chinese Dream blog is just out with an interesting post on innovation in Chinese manufacturing, or the lack thereof. The post is entitled, "Myth of China’s Manufacturing Prowess," and its central thesis is that Americans misunderstand what drives Chinese manufacturing. I agree with her and...
The China Representative Office (RO). Got WFOE?
Spoke with a China lawyer friend of mine today who told me his firm had not "done" a single China Rep Office for the last six months. Every time someone had contacted them with plans for a China Rep Office, it ended up as a WFOE. I told him the...
How To Succeed In China Business. THE Rules.
Rich Brubaker of All Roads Lead To China is out with an über-helpful post, entitled, A Few Rules for Succeeding in China, setting out the following eight rules to follow to succeed in China: 1. Show up with reasonable expectations. Rich notes how many come to China with "unrealistic expectations…...
Knock, Knock? Who's There? China Tax Man.
I had a conversation the other day with a leading journalist on how both of us are always right about our predictions. I joked that the beauty of writing is that all we need to do show how right we are is to highlight the predictions on which we were...
China And England, Without Prejudice. Assume Nothing.
Sometimes the strangest things get me to thinking. Today it was an article, entitled, "Court of Appeal rules on without-prejudice communication," by London lawyer, Andrew McGregor. An incredibly rough summary of the article is that British courts will exclude settlement negotiations as evidence. Bear with me here, as there will...
So You Wanna Be An Entrepreneur In China?
Every month or so, I get an email from someone asking me for my views on their starting a business in China. These emails usually come from someone who has been in China for a year or so at a really low paying job or from someone who just recently...
Avvo Blog
22 examples of unconventional lawyer marketing
Standing out from the crowd With 1.2 million lawyers in America, standing out can be a challenge, but not for the 22 lawyers featured here. Shunning stiff suits and bookshelf backdrops, these lawyers are turning heads. But are some of them going too far? You be the judge. 1) Jailhouse business cards...
I love to see lawyers get business through Avvo Answers. Here’s a great article from the Wisconsin Law Journal speaking to the power of Avvo Answers. This excerpt really says it all: “[Lawyer Karyn T.] Missimer says that Avvo Answers has increased the number of visits to her Web...
Top viewed lawyers in February
1) Alan Brinkmeier of Chicago, Illinois 2) Norman Victorino of Lake Zurich, Illinois (no photo) 3) Patrick Alexander Bradford of New York, New York (no photo) 4) Pamela Koslyn of Hollywood, California 5) Kenneth B. Kramer of Texas (no photo) 6) Gary C Furlong of Seattle, Washington (no photo) 7) Blair Frederick Paul of Seattle, Washington (no photo) 8. Shah Iqbal Nawaaz...
Highlights from Ranking the Raters
Last November, Avvo participated in the Ranking the Raters: A Forum on Methodologies, Benefits and Value discussion hosted by the ABA Law Practice Management Section in Philadelphia. It was a great opportunity for the major players to present their rating methodologies to a panel of in-house counsel from major U.S....
One rule for successful blogging
Joel Spolsky has run one of the most popular software blogs for the past 10 years, but this week he announced he’s calling it quits. Find out what made his blog successful, why he’s quitting, and how lawyers can learn from his experience. The key to successful blogging According to Joel (borrowing...
Being on the bleeding edge of a cultural trend isn’t usually the most stress-free place to be. Witness Yelp, the leading site for online reviews of restaurants, bars and other small businesses, which has found itself on the receiving end of a class action lawsuit over user reviews. Once largely...
Brian Leiter's Law School Reports
Welcome Guest Blogger Dan Filler
I'm very pleased to report that Dan Filler (Drexel), whose many informative postings at the wonderful Faculty Lounge blog I often link to, has agreed to be a guest blogger here for the remainder of the month. I may post......
New Scholarly Impact Study Forthcoming
We'll be posting soon a new study of the scholarly impact of law faculties at the ranking site which looks at citations to faculty scholarship for the period 2004-through very early 2010 (it's an updated and expanded version of this......
Alcohol and Sign Painting Don't Mix
Indeed....
Yes, actually, though I'd be with the alumni who aren't amused. Very weird....
"The Radicalism of Legal Positivism"
This is the penultimate version of an essay that will appear in the special 'legal theory' issue of the National Lawyers Guild's Guild Practitioner. It is written with a non-specialist audience in mind, so may be of interest to some......
An Open Letter to Bob Morse of U.S. News
MOVING TO FRONT FROM MARCH 31, 2008, SINCE IT'S THAT TIME OF YEAR AGAIN Dear Mr. Morse: A recent article in the ABA Journal reports your continued interest in suggestions for improving the law school rankings. I know from experience......
Conflict Zen
Fred and Ed: a story about the problem with runaway thoughts
Fred the farmer needed to plow his fields. But his tractor was in the shop and the repairs weren’t going to be done in time. Fred noticed that his neighbor, Ed, had finished his plowing decided to ask if he [...]...
In workplace or interpersonal conflict, don’t let potholism distract you
It’s frost heave season again in northern New England, that time of year when the freezing of snow-saturated soil causes the earth and and cracked sections of pavement on top of it to thrust upward. Cars bounce along old stretches of roadway as though on an amusement park ride and...
New website design at Lenski.com
I’ve redesigned the “hub” of my online presence, my Lenski.com conflict resolution website, the first major overhaul in several years. I used StudioPress’ brilliant new Genesis theme as the backbone of the design, then customized to create the look and feel I’m aiming for – elegant, uncomplicated and creative, words people...
The case of the effing mediation participants
Harold stood up, snapped his briefcase shut dramatically, tossed his coat over his arm and gestured to his legal team. “We’re leaving. This is over.” He turned and marched purposefully toward the conference room door, leaving his attorneys scrambling to gather their papers and catch up. “Hmmm,” I said. “I’m not...
10-second reader poll: best days of the week for seminars?
I’m planning my schedule of spring conflict resolution seminars and retreats in New England and would love your input before I reserve facilities. Which combination of days would work best if you wanted to attend one of my two-day events? var host = (("https:" == document.location.protocol) ? "https://secure." : "http://");document.write(unescape("%3Cscript src='" +...
Conflict coaching interview on BlogTalkRadio
Texas conflict coach Pattie Porter interviewed me for her Blog Talk Radio show last evening. We talked about conflict coaching, how it differs from other types of coaching, and when it offers a good return on investment of time, energy and money. I also shared a few tips for becoming more...
Technola
Idealist.org Career Resource on Public Interest Law
As part of its Public Service Graduate Education Resource Center, Idealist.org has developed an excellent resource for prospective graduate students contemplating a career in public interest law. Available as a downloadable PDF, it provides a wealth of information on what to look for in a law school, the law school...
Broadband Adoption in Low-Income Communities
The Social Science Research Council just published a new study, "Broadband Adoption in Low-Income Communities," by Dharma Dailey, Amelia Bryne, Alison Powell, Joe Karaganis and Jaewon Chung. The study is based on “170 interviews of non-adopters, community access providers, and other intermediaries conducted across the US in late 2009 and...
Online Database of Social Media Policies
I recently came across this impressive online database of social media policies, which includes over 100 policies from several different industries. The nonprofit and government section includes examples from both large and small nonprofits and government agencies. For more information on crafting a social media policy for your organization, check...
Aviary Online Image Editor Now Free
Aviary, a robust online image editor that used to cost $24.99 a year for the full version, is now available for free. According co-founder Michael Galpert, a "recent round of funding (by Spark Capital, Bezos Expeditions & others) enables [Aviary] to finally achieve this goal." The full announcement is available...
Nevada Partners Create Bankruptcy How-To Videos
For over 10 years, the Legal Aid Center of Southern Nevada and the William S. Boyd School of Law at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas have partnered to teach community education classes covering several areas of law for the public. In order to extend their reach, the law school...
Creative Commons Licensing and Writing Attributions Correctly
Creative Commons is "a nonprofit dedicated to making it easier for people to share and build upon the work of others, consistent with the rules of copyright." They provide six free licenses that you can use to license your creations: Attribution Attribution...
Concurring Opinions
Fordham Law Review, Volume 78 Number 4 (March 2010)
Volume 78 March 2010 Number 4 ARTICLES Property in Crisis Nestor M. Davidson & Rashmi Dyal-Chand Prospective Compensation in Lieu of a Final Injunction in Patent and Copyright Cases H. Tomás Gómez-Arostegui ESSAY Reducing Information Gaps To Reduce the Tax Gap: When Is Information Reporting Warranted? Leandra Lederman NOTES To Catch a Predator or To Save His Marriage: Advocating for an Expansive Child Abuse Exception to...
Today the House impeached U.S. District Judge G. Thomas Porteous, Jr. (E.D.La.) on four counts of high crimes and misdemeanors. As the roll call votes indicate, there was overwhelming support for impeachment and no votes against it (the votes were 412-0, 410-0, 416-0, and 423-0). Nonetheless, the “hundred-ton gun” of impeachment...
Not-Quite-Live-Blogging Intersectionality (Part I: General overview, Thursday)
I’m at the UCLA Intersectionality conference, and so far it has been phenomenal. I’m going to post some brief notes about the sessions I’ve attended so far. I’m typing these up while in a session – the intersectionality teaching and reading workshop. Hopefully these will be moderately...
Illinois Law Review, Issue 2010:2 (March 2010)
Illinois Law Review, Issue 2010:2 (March 2010) (Please see our website for past issues.) Articles Climate Change, Carbon Sequestration, and Property Rights Alexandra B. Klass & Elizabeth J. Wilson We Don’t Want to Hear It: Psychology, Literature and the Narrative Model of Judging Kenworthey Bilz Citations in the U.S. Supreme Court: An Empirical Study of Their Use...
Privacy of Death Photos and Videos
Since I blogged recently about the issue of the privacy of death photos and videos, I thought I’d mention this story I came across from CNN: Photos of the nude and decapitated body of a murdered hiker, sought by a writer on assignment for Hustler magazine, will not be released, a...
Standards for Assessing Judicial Nominees
A question raised by the Sotomayor nomination that is an issue for all judicial nominees is what standard should be used to determine whether someone is too extreme or “outside the mainstream” to be confirmed. (For purposes of discussion, let’s exclude issues about ethical problems or a lack of credentials.)...
Chicago IP Litigation Blog
Potential Issues With Joint Defense Relationships
This is a reproduction with permission of an article written by Bob Ambrogi about issues with joint defense agreements, in particular with a single firm representing multiple parties. While joint defense agreements are often valuable for the parties involved, they also have important issues which every defendant should be aware...
Copyright Suit Dismissed With 30 Days to Prove Standing
Rudnicki v. WPNA 1490 AM, No. 04 C 5719, Slip. Op. (N.D. Ill. Dec. 10, 2009) (Pallmeyer, J.). Judge Pallmeyer granted plaintiff summary judgment of copyright registration of six of his Polish radio broadcasts. The Court also granted defendants summary judgment that plaintiff lacked standing to bring his copyright infringement suit. ...
Proposed Changes to Federal Expert Witness Practice
This is a reproduction with permission of an excellent article written by Bob Ambrogi detailing proposed changes to Fed. R. Civ. P. 26 regarding expert witness practice that every litigator should be aware of, as they are expected to take effect December 1, 2010. Rule 26: Major Changes for Attorneys and Experts By...
Chicago IP Colloquium: The Development of Modern American Copyright & the Film Industry
The annual Chicago IP Colloquium continues this Tuesday, March 9, 2010. The Chicago IP Colloquium is jointly sponsored by Chicago-Kent College of Law and Loyola University Chicago School of Law to discuss a range of issues in intellectual property and cyberspace law based upon papers by six nationally renowned intellectual property scholars. The sessions...
Plaintiff's Firm That Previously Represented Defendant Not Disqualified
Scala's Original Beef & Sausage Co., LLC v. Alvarez d/b/a Michaelangelo Foods, No. 09 C 7353, Slip. Op. (N.D. Ill. Dec. 10, 2009) (Dow, J.). Judge Dow denied defendants' motion to dismiss plaintiff's counsel. Plaintiff's counsel's firm represented the individual defendant and a prior company in a 2006 matter. But that case, a...
CLE: Northwestern Journal of Technology & Intellectual Property Annual Symposium
This Friday, March 5, 2010, the Northwestern Journal of Technology & Intellectual Property hosts its Fifth Annual Symposium. The Symposium, titled "New Rules for a New Day," includes the following sessions: • The Patenting of Social Interactions: Bilski Before the Supreme Court - a panel discussion on the Bilski case, what is...